Chamber Music and Orchestra for Adults

Chamber Orchestra: May 21—23 | Chamber Music: May 22—25

Participants joined us for Chamber Music and Orchestra for Adults and enjoyed making music with others who love playing classical music as much as you do! There were three ways to participate:

Set aside three evenings for inspiring orchestra sessions

Immersed themselves in intensive chamber-music coaching in the mornings

Joined us for chamber-music coaching in the mornings, plus orchestra or piano studio class at night

Whichever schedule chosen, participants learned from distinguished faculty and played side-by-side with select Curtis students. Pianists received personalized instruction through studio class.
Participants registered as an individual or a pre-formed ensemble.

Individual registrants, with or without chamber ensemble experience, were welcome. No audition was required for admission, but we asked each participant to submit a sample of his or her playing, which informed our decisions on ensemble assignments. We also asked that participants provide a repertoire list-what they’ve played in the past, whether solo, chamber, or accompanied. Finally, participants let us know what repertoire they’d love to play while here and we did our best to accommodate their requests.

If participants were attending as a pre-formed group, submission of playing was not necessary. We asked them to submit a repertoire list—what they had played in the past as an ensemble—to help us assign them new repertoire. They were also welcome to tell us what they wanted to work on during the program.

Participants set aside only two weekday nights and some time on the weekend for orchestra rehearsals so they didn’t need to take days off work! Participants played in the chamber orchestra side-by-side with select Curtis students. They also had the choice to take one day off to immerse themselves in intensive chamber music coaching in the mornings plus orchestra at night; or to join us just for orchestra. Either way, musicians learned from distinguished faculty. No audition was required for admission, but we asked each participant to submit a sample of his or her playing, which informed our decisions on section placement. We also asked that they provide a repertoire list—what they’ve played in the past, whether orchestral, solo, chamber, or accompanied.

Pianists had an opportunity to play solo pieces for one other and gather tips on playing piano in a chamber ensemble. Pianists who were participating in Chamber Music in the mornings and elect to participate in this course at night led by Amy Yang were asked to submit topics to cover in class. We did our best to accommodate their requests. (This course does not involve public performance.) Read more detail from Amy here.

Avocational musicians between the ages of 25 to 35 who live in the Philadelphia area were invited to apply for the Bryan Anderson and Patrick Kreeger Scholarship, which partially covered tuition for young professionals who might not otherwise have the financial resources to participate. For more details, please contact shino.verner@curtis.edu.